Ok, I need one badly. Right now I'm lookin at paying at least $1800 to get it done right. Unfortunately with tuition and other things, I have no extra money. Have any of you gotten a good paint job for cheap? I've even considered getting that embassador paint job from Macco*. I just don't know if I'll like the quality of a $250 paint job. You get what you pay for right? I don't want to cut corners and then have to have it re painted a year from now.

I could always shoot it myself, but I don't have the facilities, and I doubt that my neighbors want their cars painted.

Give me all the advice you can.

 

$1800 for an entire car is extremely cheap. I just painted a front bumper, and paint, mix and labor was over $400; this was after the other guy's insurance company forced me to go to three places and find the lowest estimate. Anything less than $2000, you are going to regret it. The "cheap" places (i.e. Maaco) will find a way to charge you more than their base price -- they may say $250, but if they have to take anything off the car to paint it, your bill will start to climb. Meanwhile, they skimp on steps such as adhesion promotion, undercoat and clearcoat.

From the factory, most cars have an 11- to 15-step painting process. If a body shop isn't doing at least 8-10 steps, you are getting an inferior paint job.